Creating a new version of an agenda

When you need a new version

Once an agenda has been committed it cannot be edited directly. To make changes, create a new version by cloning the committed agenda.

Before creating a new version, decide which type you need:

A Minor Version can be published at any time, including during the statutory notice period. Because the business set out in the agenda is unchanged, the original notice still stands.

A Major Version can change the business set out in the agenda. Before the notice period starts, this causes no difficulty: the new version is the one that counts for notice purposes. Once the notice period has started, any item that is added or materially reworded will not have had full notice, and the council may not be able to make a decision on it at that meeting. Re-publishing can still be the right choice, since a misleading or defamatory title should not stay on public display, but it comes at that cost.

The only visible sign of a Major Version is the new version number. It is for the Clerk and Chair to explain at the meeting what has changed and why. It is at the council's discretion whether an affected item can be discussed, and how to proceed.

Steps

1. Go to the View Meeting page for the relevant meeting.

2. Click + Create Agenda.

3. Under Clone Agenda from this Meeting, select the version you want to clone using the radio button. Each existing version is listed with its version number and creation date (e.g. "Clone v1.0 - created 17 Jun 2026").

4. Under Version Type, select Minor Version or Major Version as appropriate. The description beneath each option explains what each allows. (For any source other than cloning an existing version of this meeting's agenda, only Major Version is available and a notice says so.)

5. Optionally add a note under Notes to describe why this version is being created - for example, "Minor version to add late contractor quote to Item 6". This note is visible to staff only and appears in the agenda version history.

6. Click Create Agenda. You are taken back to the View Meeting page, where the new version appears in the Agendas table alongside the existing one. The table shows each version's number, creation date, status, and which version is currently live - indicated by a tick in the Live column.

7. Click into the new version to open the agenda building page and make your changes.

8. When your changes are complete, commit the new version by clicking Commit Agenda.

After committing the new version

Committing the new version does not automatically make it the live version. The original version remains active and visible to councillors and the public until you explicitly switch.

To make the new version live, return to the View Meeting page and click Change Active Agenda below the Agendas table. Select the version you want to make live. The tick in the Live column will move to the newly activated version.

This is the most common source of confusion with versioning. If councillors are still seeing the old version after you have committed the new one, it is almost certainly because this switch step has not yet been done.

See Publishing and switching versions for the full switching procedure.

What is restricted in a Minor Version

In a Minor Version the following are disabled:

• Editing item titles
• Adding new items (including child items)
• Deleting items
• Re-ordering items (Order Agenda Items is disabled)
• The Add Content and Library insert options (hidden)

All other editing - body text, internal notes, tags, papers and annexes, confidentiality flags - is available as normal.